| | Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. edited by Jack Flam.
Jack Flam's collection of writings
by artist Robert
Smithson, who died in a plane crash in 1973 at the age
of 36, separates the writings into three categories: published
writings, interviews, and unpublished writings. Presented
in chronological order, the published writings trace the
evolution of the artist's brief career, from his early geometric,
gallery works to his penultimate earthwork Spiral
Jetty. The interview portion is highlighted by
one conducted with
Paul Cummings for The Archives of American Art/Smithsonian
Institution one year before Smithson's death. Unlike the
artist's own writings - which tend to be fascinating in
subject but dense and difficult in style - the interview
with Cummings is conversational and accessible, and therefore
more illuminating in some respects. The unpublished writings
are split into two sub-categories - poems and prose - and
overall seem to be more directly about his own art than
the published writings, which deal with subjects from geology
to the industrial monuments of Passaic, New Jersey. If one
has an interest in Smithson's art, this book is a good place
to start, as it helps illustrate the direction of his art,
a direction with almost unlimited potential that was sadly
cut short.
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